When COVID measures were imposed on countries around the world, and both the business world and the personal world were being shaken, the international wine world seized the opportunity and quickly developed the format of online tastings. Online trade profited, especially in the premium segment, while the restaurant trade responded with delivery services. It was all hands on deck to limit the economic damage.
This made the reaction of the South African government to ban the consumption and transportation of alcohol all the more incomprehensible to marketing agents and importers in Germany, says WoSA Market Manager for Germany, Petra Mayer. Even worse: no monetary assistance was offered to ensure the economic structures and businesses remained intact.

WoSA Germany market manager Petra Mayer.
As in other markets, long-standing business partners in Germany recognised the need for producers and winegrowers to support their partners in South Africa. Determined to make a difference, Petra put out a call to importers: “What can we do?” The idea was not to simply send donations to those in need, but to identify projects that would support the economic and future-oriented structures of the wine sector, which often depend on private businesses and funding. “We were well aware that in this emergency situation, projects that were otherwise dependent on monetary support from private funds or wine producers would suffer the most,” she says.
Rising to the challenge
Importers were keen to support their South African suppliers and three answered her call. Capreo, Linke Weinhandlung and Pellegrini GmbH were soon joined by Vollherbst Etikettendruck and wine logistics provider Hillebrand Gori. Locally, Brenden Schwartz of Bravo Design in Cape Town was also excited to come on board. “Everyone’s willingness to jump in, despite never having collaborated before, was quite amazing. It still is.”
The team quickly decided on a concept: to produce a joint wine and transfer the profits in full to South Africa. Everyone was willing to support the project on a voluntary basis. In joint discussions — via Zoom, of course — moderated by Petra, the idea was born to unite the themes of old vines and young winegrowers with South Africa’s wine culture, combining future and tradition. “The idea was to convey not just a wine, but a message,” Petra says. “It would be emotional and personal, authentic and positive, and an ambassador for quality, resilience and the uniqueness of this wonderful wine country.”
Connecting with heritage
Petra got in touch with a former WoSA colleague and project manager of the Old Vine Project, André Morgenthal, who was willing to act as a middleman. “It’s thanks to his commitment, networks and expertise that we were able to enter into a cooperation with the Cape Winemakers Guild, under the leadership of Andrea Mullineux,” Petra says. “It has become our passion to help support the Protégé programme financially and ideally. We wanted to ensure the programme continued to receive funding and that these young talents did not suffer financial loss. At the same time, we wanted to get them excited about the idea and the special nature of old vines, thus closing the circle between tradition and the future.”
Together, André and Andrea were able to procure the base wines in February and March 2020. “We came up with the idea of producing a cuvée from Cinsault and Pinotage — a Cape Blend. This is also a story in itself: Cinsault as a traditional grape variety of the country, and Pinotage as a unique variety of South African origin. It would be a cuvée that embodies a spicy, delicate wine style.”
“We were never able to taste the wines ourselves, so we relied entirely on the expertise of Andrea and André and the people involved,” Petra says. “Of course, we were very lucky to have Andrea as our patron, and we also had the best champion in André Morgenthal when it came to sourcing the wine from Certified Heritage vines. There was no question that we wanted to support this project financially. After all, the idea of the Old Vine Project is currently one of the most innovative and valuable approaches for all German importers for strengthening the quality reputation of South African wines.”
Coming together
Despite the fact that everything had to be organised via Zoom, there was a special vibe about the project, Petra says. “We had never worked together before, but we had a common purpose; we wanted to do something good and send a positive signal to our partners and to the world. And it was a life-saver for us as well to have this positive interaction and to be involved in something good during such challenging times.”
Matthias Vollherbst from Vollherbst Druck was tuned in to this spirit. This printing company from the town of Endingen am Kaiserstuhl in southern Germany specialises in premium labels, and has built up a network of customers in the Western Cape over the years. Matthias’ father had fallen in love with the country and its people, and it was no surprise Matthias, too, was a great supporter of South African wine. “We were all united by a great love and drive to support South Africa’s winegrowers,” Petra says. “And remarkably, everything was done with a virtual handshake, based on trust and willpower.”
Meanwhile, Bravo Design had conceived of the label and came up with a name, Imvini Wethu, meaning ‘our vines’, coupled with the famous quote by Helen Keller, Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. “It perfectly summed up everything that made us special,” Petra says. “This inner strength acted like a magnet that held us together and also had a great impact on our customers.”
Around 10,000 bottles of Imvini Wethu were produced. The wine was priced at 16.50 euros (VAT inclusive) in Germany. Shipping and transport was handled by Hillebrand. “We are still grateful to this day. We were able to set aside around 5.00 euros per bottle as donations; to date, this amounts to around 48,000 euros. The proceeds from the first 2020 vintage went to the Old Vine Project and the CWG Protegés Programme.”
Boots on the ground
Meanwhile, another initiative by the Old Vine Project had resonated with the team. Out of concern that farm workers should benefit from her work at the Old Vine Project and her passion for old vines, Rosa Kruger had developed a training programme, with pruning courses designed in collaboration with sponsor FELCO. But since the classes could not proceed as planned in 2020 due to COVID restrictions, André wanted to support the workers with gumboots. He even polled the farm workers to find out where their shoes were pinching. “The story of producing, branding and distributing them is a story in itself,” Petra says. “The people were overjoyed both when the boots were handed out and when they could enrol in the courses in 2021. The appreciation for these people, the chance to receive a certificate and to recognise their importance in the value chain has brought great joy and pride to those involved”.
The biggest challenge of the entire project was declaring the funds as donations, and transferring it to their partners. “On the part of our South African partners, everything was in place. All the legal formalities were 100 per cent in order. It was the German bureaucracy that put the brakes on our spirit for a long time. The problem was firstly that you are not allowed to produce or trade a product or entrepreneurial service without making a profit, and secondly, the authorities were unable to understand the activities on the South African side, linguistically and conceptually.”
The spirit of Ubuntu
It took a while to find a solution. Help came in the form of German non-profit Lebenslinien e.V., an association concerned with the education of children and young people in South Africa. Headed by Steffi and Thomas Curry, Lebenslinien e.V., has been helping children in the Cape since 2005 according to the African philosophy of Ubuntu. “It’s an expression of an African way of life, characterised by brotherhood, solidarity and togetherness. Their projects, implemented with our South African project partners on site, aim to provide fast and sustainable help where it is most urgently needed. Steffi and Thomas are also the masterminds behind Südafrika Weinversand, another important player in the German wine market that specialises in the online trade of South African wines. We were able to support their project Eagle’s Nest, a wonderful kindergarten for 90 children in the middle of the impoverished farm-labour community of Grabouw, with part of the donations.”
“This brought us full circle with the idea: Alone we can achieve so little, together we can achieve so much.”
Petra is now marketing the second release of Imvini Wethu. “Admittedly, this is not easy in today’s wine market,” she admits. “The mood has changed a lot in the last two years. A charity message no longer resonates with the public, and the focus is more on the outstanding wine quality and the old-vine story.”
“The fact is that Imvini Wethu pursues a charitable purpose and, as an ambassador, represents the culture, the people and the special values of this wine country in the best possible way. These are the unshakeable core values of this brand, and we are already looking forward to the third vintage.”